- Reposting from Sleep section as no replies and I am desperate for advice! Sorry for lengthy post!
DD who is almost one was a brilliant sleeper until a couple of months ago, (biggest apologies if it appears I am being smug - I appreciate how lucky we were!) but now we have so many sleep issues that I don't know where to begin. I would be incredibly grateful for some advice as I am feeling at a loss to know what do.
Right from being tiny, DD would sleep for 4 hours in one stretch, at 8 weeks she dropped her night feed, and from 12 weeks, she was sleeping 10-11 hours at night. However, since early October, she has been waking up 2 or 3 times every night, crying and standing up in her cot. On a 'good' night, she will feed sleepily for half an hour to an hour each time she wakes and go back to sleep but more often than not, she is awake for hours at a time and full of beans, wanting to speedily crawl around, cruise the furniture, leaf through her books, play and babble away. It seems like she just can't switch off! (I never encourage her to play during the night and keep the lights dimmed and interaction to a minimum). I originally put this down to the sleep regression that can occur at around ten months and told myself it was just a phase, however it doesn't seem to be improving and weeks of broken sleep are taking their toll.
Two additional major issues: she resists sleeping at home during the day and won't go down for naps in her cot anymore so I resort to walking for miles with her so she will sleep in the buggy - often she is so tired that she will sleep for 3 hours. I am finding this exhausting after only averaging 4 or 5 hours sleep a night and it means I can't get anything done at home. We also struggle to make it to any groups or activities as we are both so tired.
Also, I have been attempting to phase out breastfeeding and have in the last couple of weeks cut down to just feeding first thing and at bedtime, (I have been giving cow's milk during the day). However I am still feeding her to sleep at night, (trickier than it used to be as she often tries to wriggle out of my arms and struggles to switch off, even when I have tried to prepare her for bed with a quiet bedtime routine) and I put her on the breast to try and settle her and get her back to sleep when she wakes up during the night so I don't see how I can stop feeding at the moment and I am despairing as I would really like to stop breastfeeding now. I would be so grateful for any advice. This is really taking its toll on my relationship with DP, (he sleeps in the spare room and DD is in with me) and I feel like I am never on good form these days as I am so exhausted! Many thanks.